Cannot open some web pages

[Guest]

Brother's computer (XP Home, 2000 miles away) will not open some web sites
(AOL, CNN, Verizon email login)- gets page not found error. Other sites open
fine (Amazon, Ebay). He claims to be running up to date Norton suite, has
also run AdAware and Spybot. No malware found. Has rebooted computer & DSL
modem; has cleared TIF, cookies, etc. Had him try system restore; unable to
restore to any points prior to date problem began (3/15). Restore point for
that date shows Google Earth installed but they claim they didn't install it,
can't find any evidence of it on computer. Can restore to points later.
Everything seems to be fine (as far as he knows) except IE. Don't have
specifics about updates installed, can get them if req'd. Not sure if here or
WinXP group is right place to post but I'm starting here. Thanks for any
ideas you have to share.

 

[john doe]

Brother's computer (XP Home, 2000 miles away) will not open some web sites
(AOL, CNN, Verizon email login)- gets page not found error. Other sites
open
fine (Amazon, Ebay). He claims to be running up to date Norton suite, has
also run AdAware and Spybot. No malware found. Has rebooted computer & DSL
modem; has cleared TIF, cookies, etc. Had him try system restore; unable
to
restore to any points prior to date problem began (3/15). Restore point
for
that date shows Google Earth installed but they claim they didn't install
it,
can't find any evidence of it on computer. Can restore to points later.
Everything seems to be fine (as far as he knows) except IE. Don't have
specifics about updates installed, can get them if req'd. Not sure if here
or
WinXP group is right place to post but I'm starting here. Thanks for any
ideas you have to share.

Are the sites that are not showing up HTTPS by any chance ?

 

[Guest]

I don't think so but will verify. Thought he had told me they couldn't even
go to www.aol.com (and yes, they are typing in, not using link or favorites).
He's also reset IE default settings and set it to lowest security level. If
they are secure sites, what advice would you offer?

 

[john doe]

I don't think so but will verify. Thought he had told me they couldn't even
go to www.aol.com (and yes, they are typing in, not using link or
favorites).
He's also reset IE default settings and set it to lowest security level.
If
they are secure sites, what advice would you offer?

I ran into trouble with a friends computer that stopped accessing secure
sites, it ended up being the Norton Antivirus that was the culprit...once I
was able to delete it the sites were back in view.

 

[Guest]

I did verify that he's not going to any secure sites.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

Brother's computer (XP Home, 2000 miles away) will not open some web
sites (AOL, CNN, Verizon email login)- gets page not found error.
Other sites open fine (Amazon, Ebay). He claims to be running up to
date Norton suite, has also run AdAware and Spybot. No malware found.
Has rebooted computer & DSL modem; has cleared TIF, cookies, etc. Had
him try system restore; unable to restore to any points prior to date
problem began (3/15). Restore point for that date shows Google Earth
installed but they claim they didn't install it, can't find any
evidence of it on computer. Can restore to points later. Everything
seems to be fine (as far as he knows) except IE. Don't have specifics
about updates installed, can get them if req'd. Not sure if here or
WinXP group is right place to post but I'm starting here. Thanks for
any ideas you have to share.

Check for a file named HOSTS with no extension (not Hosts.sam). It may be a
hidden file. Open it with Notepad and remove any line referencing the site.
Or, rename HOSTS to OLDHOSTS

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Frank. That was one of the many suggestions I sent him last week. He
never did get to that step, got so frustrated after being down for 3 weeks (2
before he called me) and too many troubleshooting ideas, that he resorted to